A Chicago-based disability activist group won’t have to pay $25,000 to an Illinois conference and rally on disability rights. Amtrak suspended a pricing policy that resulted in the travel bill for the group.
The U.S. rail agency had told Chicago-based Access Living its policy was to charge extra to reconfigure train cars to accommodate wheelchair users, The Associated Press reported.
Access Living said it got the $25,000 round-trip quote last month after it told an Amtrak agent that five of the 10 people making the trip are in wheelchairs.
“It was never meant to be applied to this situation and we apologize for that mistake,” said a statement emailed Wednesday by Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
“We are glad it has all worked out and we were able to accommodate our customers’ trip. We will do better next time. We are America’s Railroad and we want to provide more trips, not fewer.”
On Monday, Amtrak apologized to Access Living and agreed to accommodate everyone at the regular rate of $16 per person.
In an email exchange obtained by CNN, an Amtrak agent explained that the train only had three spaces for wheelchairs, so it would have to take a car out of service and remove some seats to accommodate the group. Amtrak can’t sell seats in the car until it’s returned to its regular configuration, so that contributed to the cost, according to the email.
National Attention
The story drew national attention, and the group heard from the railroad service on Monday.
“Amtrak officials have contacted Access Living and we apologize for their inconvenience as we have been working through how to serve their travel needs,” Amtrak said in a statement provided to CNN.
“We assured them that as valued customers we will accommodate all passengers who use wheelchairs aboard the same Amtrak trains they originally requested between Chicago and Bloomington-Normal, Illinois.”
Hayman, who uses a wheelchair herself, told CNN that Amtrak told the Access Living that they would accommodate the group and only charge the regular fare.
“We’re pleased that Amtrak now says it can accommodate all of our wheelchair riders tomorrow for no additional fee,” Hayman said.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) posted to Twitter on Sunday that the $25,000 fee was “outrageous.”
Duckworth is a ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety, which focuses on safety and infrastructure development related to both freight and passenger rail, including Amtrak.
The senator lost both of her legs and partial use of her right arm in 2004 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Black Hawk helicopter she was flying in Iraq. She sometimes uses a wheelchair.
